DP079: Strategy with a Smile!

Plot

It's the semifinal round of the Wallace Cup and Dawn's Piplup is battling hard against Kyle's Crawdunt. Dawn breaks out one of her trusted strategies--using Whirlpool to envelop an opponent--but that doesn't do much against Crawdunt who hits back with Surf. However, Kyle and his Crawdunt get a big surprise when Piplup's spinning Bide move knocks Crawdunt out of the competition. Dawn's creative strategy earns her a spot in the finals and an awkward post-match interview with Jessie, now in full TV star mode as Jessadia.

The other semifinal match pits May against Zoey and both Coordinators have opted to use their reliable Pokemon: May uses Beautifly while Zoey goes with Glameow. Zoey looks like she's on her way to an early lead with some gorgeous moves by Glameow, but May has plenty of Contest experience on her side. Beautifly catches Glameow by surprise with its new move, Aerial Ace, and May is declared the winner when time runs out.

After seeing May's performance, Dawn feels a little nervous going into the final battle. She sticks with Piplup while May brings in Glaceon, making its first Contest battle appearance since it evolved from Eevee. Once again, Dawn is banking on a strong Whirlpool and creative spinning movesto help her win; Glaceon is a tough opponent and Dawn realizes she can't hold back against an opponent as tough as May. It's a close battle to the finish, but when time runs out, Dawn is the winner! As May returns to Johto and Zoey resumes her own journey, Dawn happily rejoins her friends on the road to Pastoria City and Ash's next Gym Battle.